IDC

The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum contains the apicoplast organelle that synthesize isoprenoids, which are metabolites necessary for post-translational modification of Plasmodium proteins. We used fosmidomycin, an antibiotic that inhibits isoprenoid biosynthesis, to identify mechanisms that underlie the development of the parasite's adaptation to the drug at sub-lethal concentrations. We first determined a concentration of fosmidomycin that reduced parasite growth by ∼50% over one intraerythrocytic developmental cycle (IDC). At this dose, we maintained synchronous parasite cultures for one full IDC, and collected metabolomic and transcriptomic data at multiple time points to capture global and stage-specific alterations.